Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, or KAP, is an innovative approach that combines the therapeutic benefits of psychotherapy with the use of ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic. We use ketamine to leverage intensive psychotherapy. This has proven to produce results far more quickly than traditional talk-oriented psychotherapies, particularly for those who have experienced severe PTSD and Treatment Resistant Depression/Anxiety.
The Ketamine Effect
The effects of ketamine can be felt within minutes, and many clients report feeling a sense of emotional openness and heightened awareness during the session.
What is Ketamine Assisted Therapy (KAP)?
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is a powerful catalyst to allow inner access to difficult and often “stuck” material and emotions, and psychotherapy allows the client to actively examine, work with, and effectively process that material for long-lasting change.
Ketamine and Your Experience
The KAP treatment allows clients to gain access to the “felt-sense” of emotional content and difficult unconscious material in a rapid and powerful way, allowing the client to open up a doorway to allow that content to be accessed, worked with, and processed with the assistance of a highly trained therapist.
The use of Ketamine has extensive evidence supporting its safe and effective use for Treatment Resistant Depression, PTSD, OCD, Eating Disorders, and Anxiety. KAP has proven to soften habitually unhelpful ways of thinking and open new neural pathways which can allow for new motivation, capacity to feel joy and hope.
One of the main benefits of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy is that it can lead to rapid and significant improvement in symptoms of treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and PTSD. The effects of ketamine can be felt within minutes, and many clients report feeling a sense of emotional openness and heightened awareness during the session. This can make it easier for them to identify and address underlying issues that may be contributing to their mental health concerns.
What to expect
Our ultimate goal is to provide an experience of care and compassion, where the client feels a sense of trust to fully commit to this process. Treatment begins with a thorough understanding of the client’s history, followed by guiding them through setting clear intentions for their treatment. A treatment plan will be tailored to the client’s specific needs and therapeutic goals.
Our protocol is to deliver Ketamine via 6 IV infusions over the course of 2-3 weeks. The psychotherapy component is delivered before and after each infusion (intention setting & integration). Your KAP therapist will be present through each infusion session.
KAP can result in deep and lasting change, often far more rapidly than with psychotherapy or use of Ketamine alone.
Our Process
If you are considering KAP, you will start with a consultation call to determine if this treatment is appropriate for you. Next, you will be asked to complete all necessary mental health and medical screenings and clearances. Once we have confirmation you are appropriate for Ketamine, we will begin the scheduling process.
Once scheduled, you will meet with your KAP certified therapist for your initial intention-setting appointment. Growing Roots KAP infusion protocol follows the current state of the research and consists of six Ketamine infusions over three weeks. There are three components to our KAP process; intention setting, Ketamine infusion and an integration session. Below we have outlined each component and what you can expect during the process.
The Intention Setting, Infusion & Integration Process
Intention Session: The client and therapist discuss goals, intentions, and concerns related to their presenting problem. Your clinician will work with you to develop specific initial practices which will set the stage for the most successful KAP experience, including: mediation, breathwork, nutrition and physical activity.
Ketamine Infusion: Growing Roots offers intravenous Ketamine infusions administered by a certified nurse anesthetist. During your infusion you will be reclined in a comfortable chair, and will have sensory inputs reduced as much as possible with a Mindfold (black out mask) and noise-canceling headphones with music that enhances the experience, as well as a weighted blanket if desired.
A trained KAP therapist will be present during your entire ketamine infusion. Some people feel moved to relate some of what is happening during and at the end of the experience, although many prefer to keep their focus internal. After the administration of the ketamine infusion ends, you will recover for approximately 20 minutes and will leave with an integration appointment scheduled within 24–48 hours. During your infusion, you can also request to have one of our IV Vitamin Therapy treatments administered as well!
Integration session: The client and therapist process the material and emotions which have arisen during the ketamine experience. Your therapist helps you make connections between the content of your journey and your experiences and current therapeutic goals.
If you’d like to request a consultation for
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy please fill out this form.
Backed By Science.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy is strongly backed by scientific findings that determine this treatment is highly effective in potentially relieving the debilitating symptoms of:
Treatment-Resistant Depression and Major Depressive Disorders
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Severe Chronic Anxiety
Chronic Eating Disorders
How It Works
Ketamine targets receptors within the brain, which are crucial to memory and synaptic plasticity. When ketamine is introduced to your system it gives you the capacity to rewire these functions. Memories, once open and activated, become malleable. With careful recall of painful memories or cravings such as drug and alcohol use, new and flexible knowledge and habits can be established. Ketamine prolongs this evaluation window so that new memories can be established and remain long term.
After treatment, people are able to experience emotions and associated memories without feeling fear from their trauma or other painful experiences.. There are also fewer visual hallucinations and patterns common in traditional psychedelics, as ketamine is less active in the visual cortex; but there can be deep emotional experiences that open us to connection, memory and meaning.
Who is Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy for?
Ketamine is an effective treatment for those who have been diagnosed with PTSD, treatment resistant depression (TRD), anxiety, OCD and eating disorders. When talk therapy has reached its limits, and medication trials have failed we turn to alternative treatment options. Ketamine with therapy can help you shift habitual thought and behavior patterns allowing you to "rewire" your brain, thus creating new more effective and healthy behaviors and thought patterns leading you to a happier, healthier and more satisfying life.
Client Testimonial
“I have been struggling with a chronic eating disorder for 7 years and after I completed Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) with Growing Roots, a great weight came off my shoulders. I felt intense clarity, emotions, realizations, and gratitude during my sessions. It was like a door was opened in my mind and suddenly I could access feelings and memories I was harboring. Since the completion of the treatment, my eating disorder urges have remarkedly declined and my ability to sit with my emotions without being self-destructive has improved significantly. I feel so grateful that my therapist recommended me for this therapy and I hope others who need it take advantage of the benefits KAP has to offer.”
What is the outcome?
The mental and emotional suffering that we hope to address with Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) may come from external triggers (such as past trauma and present life conditions) and also, importantly, from how we perceive and respond to those triggers. Our perceptions and responses are determined by deeply rooted beliefs and behavioral patterns, and are influenced by genetics, and shaped through early and later experiences – positive and negative. We are often unaware of these processes that shape how we perceive and respond to our life challenges
Transformation takes time. Just as a caterpillar undergoes multiple stages before becoming a butterfly, the journey of healing and self-discovery requires patience and dedication. There are clear scientific findings that demonstrate repeated treatments of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy increase the overall benefit of this cutting-edge treatment. In a recent study; repeated ketamine infusions showed significantly decreased depression symptoms by 47.2%.
The Importance of Repeating Treatment
Transformation takes time. Just as a caterpillar undergoes multiple stages before becoming a butterfly, our own journey of healing and self-discovery requires patience and dedication. There are clear scientific findings that demonstrate repeated treatments of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy increase the overall benefit of this cutting-edge technology. In a recent study; repeated ketamine infusions showed to significantly decrease depression symptoms by 47.2%.
The benefits of repeated ketamine treatment include:
Sustained relief of symptoms
Further facilitate emotional processing and cognitive restructuring
Neuroplasticity enhancement
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy Pricing:
Ketamine infusions are not yet covered by insurance. The therapy sessions are covered by your insurance (we accept BCBS, Cigna, Aetna and Carleton (Wellsense). Please see the cost breakdown below and contact our front office to speak with our office manager to discuss financing options and payment methods.
Pricing Breakdown
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy with Insurance Coverage
KAP deposit & administration fees | $1000 (Non-refundable) Ketamine Infusions | $2000
Therapy | Co-pay according to your insurance provider
Total = $3000 + insurance copay for therapy
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy without Insurance Coverage
KAP Medical Clearance appointment: $300
KAP deposit & administration fees | $1,000 (Non-refundable)
Ketamine Infusions | $2000
Therapy | $3,315
Total = $6915
Ketamine Booster
Booking Fee | $200 (non-refundable)
Ketamine Booster | $500
Total = $700
Payment Options
We accept cash, credit card, and Care Credit.